This invention pertains to yo-yos and can have potential application to other spinning toys such as tops, gyros, and flying discs. More particularly it pertains to a yo-yo with a shock suppression system to reduce the impact of the yo-yo as it returns to the player's hand.
Recently, designers of yo-yos have addressed the problem of potential pain and injury to a player's hand when the player catches a hard-bodied yo-yo on its return. A hard-bodied yo-yo with no shock suppression system can also cause injury to other body parts or damage to other objects upon collision. Adler in U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,452 teaches the use of elastomer cushions that are radially anchored to the outer perimeter of the bodies of the yo-yo. Pekarsky et al in U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,035 teaches use of yo-yo bodies having a hard hub member and a relatively resilient elastic rotor member that snaps on the hub member and provides a degree of shock suppression. McAvoy, Jr. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,029 teaches the use of body halves made of a resilient material such as polyurethane to cushion the hand from impact. Mosher in U.S. Pat. No. 3,081,578 describes a yo-yo/top combination that has annular bands of resilient material disposed on the periphery of the body halves to provide a cushioning effect. Rehkemper et al in U.S. Pat. No. 6,579,142 describes a modular yo-yo with a resilient rubberized outer ring to reduce discomfort to the user's hand when the yo-yo returns.
To summarize, the prior art patents that address shock suppression generally use cushioning devices located around the periphery of the yo-yo, requiring that the elastomer be either elastically attached or radially anchored to the hub or walls of the yo-yo. Elastically-attached cushions have drawbacks as identified by Adler1. To remain attached the cushions must be relatively hard or else they will tend to fly off the yo-yo or become unbalanced or off-centered at high spin rates owing to centrifugal forces. Even if they remain in position, deformations that occur can introduce unbalanced wobbles and unwanted vibrations in a spinning yo-yo. For radially-anchored  cushions, and especially for soft cushions, there can still be deformations that create wobbles and unwanted vibrations. Also, designing a secure anchoring device without interfering with cushioning or without complicating manufacturing requirements can be very challenging.
In addition, yo-yos with cushions positioned at the outer periphery usually have high-friction surfaces that can interfere with yo-yo tricks. In practice, tricks like “walk the dog” are easier to maintain with a smooth low-friction outer surface that slides or skids along common flooring materials. Incidental contact with a player's clothing or nearby furniture that will otherwise grab and stop a high friction elastomer surface will not halt the spin of a smooth low friction yo-yo surface.